Survey: Fewer U.S. high school students are cheating, lying, stealing

A report released this month shows a drop in the prevalence of cheating, lying and
stealing among U.S. high school students.

The
2012 Report Card on the Ethics of American Youthshowed that 51 percent of students admitted cheating on an exam over the past year,
comparedwith 59 percent in 2010. The percentage of students who copied homework fell to 32 percent,
from 34 percent in 2010.

The Los Angeles-based Josephson Institute of Ethics has issued the report every two years since
1992. The 2012 survey of 23,000 students has a margin of error of plus or minus less than one
percent.

Michael Josephson, founder and president of the institute, said this year's findings reflect a
change in the significance parents and schools are placing on honesty and character.

“It’s a small ray of sunshine shining through lots of dark clouds,” he said in a statement.
“Though there is still far too much cheating, lying and stealing, I think we have turned the
corner.”

The survey also found that students who said they lied to a teacher about something significant
dropped to 55 percent, from 61 percent; those who lied to parents about something significant
dropped to 76 percent, from 80 percent.

Twenty percent said they had stolen something from a store in the past year, compared with 27
percent in 2010.

The survey found that boys were more likely to steal from a store than were girls (23 percent
vs. 17 percent). And while 45 percent of boys said “a person has to lie and cheat at least
occasionally in order to succeed,” 28 percent of girls agreed.